The Bears' Identity? Muhammed Ali.

''That's the first thing we talked about was Tillman. I know him from Detroit. He's going to get the ball out. I tried to hold onto that thing, too.''-Roy Williams

The Bears have a virtual 'College of Coaches' this season. An embarrassment of riches in pedigree, that features four men with 'NFL Head Coach'  included on their resume. All of them, (Yes, ALL of them Lovie-Haters) have shown flashes of brilliance so far. Tice has shuffled and coached an offensive line that is, if you believe every single thing written about them to date, performing well above expectation. Meanwhile Mike Martz has been fairly ingenious for a Bears O.C., most notably in exploiting defenses, who believed they were exploiting OUR weakness. Marinelli's defense has quietly hand-cuffed all the big-play offenses they've met, making them one-dimensional, throwing for big yards and little final scores.

And Lovie Smith is quietly, (always quietly...I think local sportswriters have ginned up a lot of the 'Fire Lovie" fervor, because they've used up all the synonyms in their thesaurus' for 'calm'. In the age of grabbers, 'if it bleeds, it leads', and sports divas, a level-headed team spokesman must be a frustrating thing to contend with.) playing Rope-a Dope with the rest of the NFL.

And Rusty Jones, the Director of Physical Development, may be his knock-out punch. While even Lovie and Jay Cutler, (Along with every writer and yammering tv analyst) will tell you the Bears haven't played at the level they should ; they're 3-0, alone atop the NFC. How are they doing it?

Rope-a-Dope. Stamina. They're outlasting opponents. Running them off their feet. Being stronger through 4 quarters of football.

The 'bend, but don't break' defensive philosophy (or gamble, depending on how you look at it) is one factor, it keeps offenses on the field, receivers flying, covering more distance on every play than the defense.

Combined with the 'hit them so hard, they feel it all day' and the 'Jesus Christ, here comes Julius Peppers' defensive philosophies, it wears out so called 'more talented' personnel over 60 minutes. And when fatigue sets in on the other side, the Bears come out swinging.

You can call them 'lucky', but you should call them 'opportunistic'. Because they're creating the opportunities. There's a reason the ball pops out easier in the 4th quarter. Just like there's a reason guys start getting holding calls, and commiting pass interference, in the 4th quarter.

Roy Williams knew Tillman was going to go for the ball. It didn't matter. In Dallas in the 2nd half, Cowboys receivers stopped stretching out for balls, memories of 1st half hits still fresh. Monday night Mark Tausher knew that Julius Peppers was coming. Again. He couldn't stop him, so he held him.

On the other side of the ball Green Bay's Clay Matthews, was the latest defensive threat to Cutler's health that the Bears supposedly inferior O-line frustrated all game. He had 6 sacks in 2 games, going in, and the world assured him he'd have another 6 or so Monday night. He became so frustrated, that  when he finally did manage to get to Cutler, he dove in head first.15 yard penalty 1st down Bears.

The downside to this game plan, is it only works if you stay healthy. One or two key injuries, and the Bears are floundering, and the season is in major jeopardy. Unless the offense becomes incredibly proficient with the Martz scheme overnight, we need all our best bodies out there, outlasting the other guys.

The upside is, nobody seems to have figured the plan out yet. They keep talking about how good teams mysteriously lose to the Bears, and have once again made the opponent the favorite, picking the Giants by 3. Take that bet, if anyone offers. The Bears are going to win in the final rounds.